Wales on a map
The council areas of Wales, shaded by the figure you pick. Point at one for its figure, and open its area guide where it has new homes listed.
House prices in Wales
Budget decides more than anything else where in Wales you can buy. Across its 22 council areas the middle sold price is £208,500, 28% below the £290,000 of the middle council area in England and Wales.
Your budget across Wales
Limited by your income: £139,500 of borrowing plus your deposit, at 4.5× income. £735 to £810 a month at 4.84% to 5.7%.
3 of the 22 council areas in Wales have a middle sold price within it.
The full affordability toolIllustration, not advice. Worked out with the rules and rates in force today, as the full tool does.
Monmouthshire is the dearest at £314,000 and Blaenau Gwent the cheapest at £140,000: the same budget buys 2.2 times as much home by price at one end of Wales as at the other.
The marker on each bar is the middle asking price of the new homes for sale there today. In 14 of the 14 council areas with enough new homes to compare, new homes are asking more than the homes sold around them: a new home is often larger or a different kind, so the gap is not the new-build premium on its own.
New build homes in Wales
Where the new homes are
578 new homes are for sale across Wales today. Cardiff has the most (127), then Flintshire (85).
Price per square foot
Price per square foot takes the size of the home out of the comparison. It runs from £155 in Blaenau Gwent to £314 in Monmouthshire.
How busy the housing market is in Wales
Homes sold for every thousand households
Sales for every thousand households show how often homes change hands, which is how much choice a buyer has in a year. Vale of Glamorgan is the busiest (28) and Powys the quietest (16), around a middle of 23.
A busy market is a sign of both supply and demand: more homes are coming up, and more buyers are competing for them.
Are house prices rising in Wales?
Past growth says where demand has been, not where it will be: nothing here is a forecast.
Price change in the last year
Sold prices were flat in the middle council area of Wales over the last year. Wrexham moved most (up 3.3%) and Pembrokeshire least (down 5.3%).
The mix of homes sold changes from year to year, so a single council area can swing for that reason alone; read the pattern across the areas more than any one bar.
Price change over three years
Over three years the middle council area's sold prices rose 4.1%, led by Caerphilly (up 11.4%).
Growth in dearer and cheaper areas
Price change over three years
Middle sold price
Over three years the cheaper council areas of Wales have loosely grown faster than the dearer ones, closing some of the gap between them.
Growth against distance to Cardiff
Price change over three years
Miles to Cardiff
Council areas closer to Cardiff have loosely seen more growth over three years than those further out.
Living near Cardiff: what closeness costs
Price per square foot against distance to Cardiff
Middle sold price per square foot
Miles to Cardiff
Distance to Cardiff does not explain prices in Wales: council areas near and far sell for much the same per square foot, so something else (the coast, a second city, the countryside) is setting them.
Who drives to work
Share of workers who drive to work
Miles to Cardiff
How many people drive to work has little to do with distance to Cardiff here.
Who lives in Wales
How built up each area is
Density says what kind of place an area is: how close the homes, shops, schools and stations sit. Cardiff is the most built up (2,571 people per square kilometre) and Powys the least (26).
Age against income
Middle household income
Middle age of residents
Younger council areas in Wales are loosely better off, which is common where a city draws working-age people. Areas above the line earn more than their age alone would suggest.
Where the families are
People per household
Residents under fifteen
Areas towards the top right have the most children and the largest households: Newport, Merthyr Tydfil and Vale of Glamorgan lead for residents under fifteen. Towards the bottom left are the areas with more single people and couples.
Renting against house prices
Households renting privately
Middle sold price
In the middle council area of Wales, 16% of households rent privately. The share renting has little to do with price here.
The most walkable places to live in Wales
Living without a car
Share of workers who drive to work
Households with no car
Another way to see how easy it is to get about is how many households manage without a car. In Cardiff, 26% have none, the most in Wales. Areas towards the bottom right are where daily life depends least on driving.
Council tax and recorded crime in Wales
Recorded crime
Police recorded 154 crimes for every thousand residents in Blaenau Gwent over the last year held, and 73 in Isle of Anglesey. City centres record more because of the people who visit them, not only those who live there, and a council area's figure hides wide differences between its streets.
Find your council area in Wales
Every council area of Wales side by side. Sort by what matters most to you, set a budget to narrow them, and open an area's guide or its new homes.
22 of 22 council areas
| Council area | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blaenau Gwent | £140,000 | 0.0% | £155 | Not held | Not held | Not held | 27 |
| Bridgend | £220,000 | +2.3% | £236 | Not held | Not held | Not held | 23 |
| Caerphilly | £195,000 | +2.6% | £218 | Not held | Not held | Not held | 42 |
| Cardiff | £270,000 | 0.0% | £304 | Not held | Not held | Not held | 127 |
| Carmarthenshire | £190,000 | +0.8% | £196 | Not held | Not held | Not held | 22 |
| Ceredigion | £220,000 | -3.2% | £223 | Not held | Not held | Not held | 0 |
| Conwy | £215,000 | -2.3% | £238 | Not held | Not held | Not held | 0 |
| Denbighshire | £200,000 | +2.6% | £232 | Not held | Not held | Not held | 0 |
| Flintshire | £214,500 | -0.2% | £238 | Not held | Not held | Not held | 85 |
| Gwynedd | £185,000 | 0.0% | £209 | Not held | Not held | Not held | 0 |
| Isle of Anglesey | £215,000 | -2.3% | £234 | Not held | Not held | Not held | 0 |
| Merthyr Tydfil | £149,000 | +2.8% | £168 | Not held | Not held | Not held | 18 |
| Monmouthshire | £314,000 | -0.3% | £314 | Not held | Not held | Not held | 0 |
| Neath Port Talbot | £166,050 | +1.6% | £176 | Not held | Not held | Not held | 0 |
| Newport | £230,000 | 0.0% | £248 | Not held | Not held | Not held | 85 |
| Pembrokeshire | £215,232 | -5.3% | £216 | Not held | Not held | Not held | 32 |
| Powys | £235,750 | -2.3% | £241 | Not held | Not held | Not held | 0 |
| Rhondda Cynon Taf | £160,000 | 0.0% | £178 | Not held | Not held | Not held | 22 |
| Swansea | £200,000 | 0.0% | £217 | Not held | Not held | Not held | 27 |
| Torfaen | £197,750 | -1.1% | £214 | Not held | Not held | Not held | 9 |
| Vale of Glamorgan | £285,000 | +1.8% | £302 | Not held | Not held | Not held | 9 |
| Wrexham | £202,500 | +3.3% | £232 | Not held | Not held | Not held | 50 |
Buying in Wales: your questions
What are the best places to live in Wales?
It depends on what you need, so this guide compares rather than ranks. Each of the 22 council areas of Wales is set against the others on sold prices, price growth, new homes, schools, the people who live there, how easy it is to get about, council tax and recorded crime, and each links to its own area guide.
What is the average house price in Wales?
The middle sold price across the council areas of Wales is £208,500 over the last twelve months. It runs from £140,000 in Blaenau Gwent to £314,000 in Monmouthshire.
Where are the cheapest places to buy a house in Wales?
By middle sold price over the last twelve months, the lowest are Blaenau Gwent (£140,000), Merthyr Tydfil (£149,000), Rhondda Cynon Taf (£160,000).
Are house prices in Wales going up?
Over the last twelve months the middle sold price rose in 8 of the 22 council areas of Wales. Wrexham moved most, up 3%. Past changes are not a forecast.
Where are the new build homes in Wales?
578 new homes are for sale across 14 council areas of Wales today. Cardiff has 127, Flintshire has 85, Newport has 85.
Area guides in Wales
- Living in Blaenau Gwent27 new homes
- Living in Bridgend23 new homes
- Living in Caerphilly42 new homes
- Living in Cardiff127 new homes
- Living in Carmarthenshire22 new homes
- Living in Flintshire85 new homes
- Living in Merthyr Tydfil18 new homes
- Living in Newport85 new homes
- Living in Pembrokeshire32 new homes
- Living in Rhondda Cynon Taf22 new homes
- Living in Swansea27 new homes
- Living in Torfaen9 new homes
- Living in Vale of Glamorgan9 new homes
- Living in Wrexham50 new homes
Other regional buying guides
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New to buying? The step-by-step guides take you from deciding to moving in, and the mortgage guides cover what you can borrow.